A Comparison of Social Capital Tools Developed by International Institutes and Nations / 農村醫學 地域保健

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify and compare social capital measurement tools for the convenient use in public health studies. METHOD AND RESULT: This study examined and compared social capital tools developed individually by the World Bank, the OECD, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Korea. A comprehensive framework was constructed with six conceptual dimensions and sixteen indices. The six dimensions included Membership, Network, Trust, Information and communication, Social and civic participation, and Social cohesion and exclusion, which connoted the structural, cognitive, bonding, bridging, operative, and output elements. The indices of each tool were respectively matched to the indices of the comprehensive framework. The comprehensive tools were Integrated Questionnaire for the Measurement of Social Capital (SC-IQ) of the World Bank with 27 questions and the European Social Survey (ESS) of the OECD with 80 questions. CONCLUSION: The SC-IQ should be utilized in public health studies due to its simplicity yet comprehensiveness as a social capital tool. The ESS should also be considered as a comprehensive tool.